Ottaviano Ubaldini Della Carda e l'allestimento della biblioteca di Federico da Montefeltro

Ottaviano Ubaldini Della Carda (1423-1498) was a humanist, lover of alchemy and patron of works of art. According to the sources it is possible to partially rebuild the biography of this enigmatic figure who was brother of the Duke Federico da Montefeltro. We know that in 1482, at the death of Duke Federico, there were 900 codexes kept in the library and most of them were scientific-technical tomes. In my paper, I will examine the importance of Ottaviano Ubaldini della Carda who was responsible of setting up Federico da Montefeltro’s famous library, maintaining contacts with humanists, and including philosophical, technical, and astronomical works as part of the collection.